Morphological characterization of Annona species under northern dry zone of Karnataka

Abstract

An investigation on ‘Morphological characterization of Annona cultivars grown under northern dry zone of Karnataka’ was carried out during 2018-19 at College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, Karnataka. The experiment was laidout in a Randomized Complete Block Design with twelve varieties replicated thrice. Twelve cultivars consisting of four different species of Annona were evaluated for morphological characters. All the morphological observations were recorded as per Cherimoya descriptor developed by Bioversity Internationale and CHERLA, 2008. In all the 12 cultivars of Annona species, the leaf blade shape was recorded as as ovate, elliptic, obovate and lanceolate; the shape of leaf apex as acute, rounded and acuminate; the leaf base as acute, rounded, obstuse and cordate; leaf colour as light green, green, greyish green and dark green; the leaf margin as entire or undulated; trunk colour as, light grey; grey and dark grey; ramification as one branch, two branches and three or more branches; fruit shape as round, oblate, cordate, broadly, cordate and oval and exocarp type as Laevis (smooth), Impressa (slight depressions) and Umbonata (small protrusions);pulp colour as white, creamy and creamy white; seed weight and seed percentage were also recorded.